A riveting psychological thriller that investigates the
nature of truth and the meaning of justice, Rashomon is widely considered
one of the greatest films ever made. Four people give different accounts of
a man’s murder and the rape of his wife, which director Akira Kurosawa
presents with striking imagery and an ingenious use of flashbacks. This
eloquent masterwork and international sensation revolutionized film language
and introduced Japanese cinema—and a commanding new star by the name of
Toshiro Mifune—to the Western world.

***

Kurosawa had for a long time wanted to make a film out of
the stories of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, and had actually written a script, but
Toho found it too great a risk, so Kurosawa left Toho to film what would
become ”Rashomon” at Daiei, even though Nagata, the studio head, had no idea
what the film was about.

And exactly what “Rashomon” is about is still today its main attraction, as
its not so much about story, but more about, as suggest by Donald Richie,
human action undistracted by plot. Told thru elliptic arranged tableaux, its
dreamlike quality demands us to observe, rather than to follow.

It all begins with a woodcutter finding the body of a samurai, which
subsequently leads to the arrest of the assumed killer, Tajomaru, and a
court case, where several versions of the event is told, from their unique
perspective: Tajomaru’s, the wife’s and the dead Samurai (through a medium).

Winner of the Golden Lion at Venice 1951, “Rashomon” became the film to
break down the wall between Japanese film and the west, despite its Japanese
response. Japanese critics didn’t like the film and the industry had not
made it for exports, as they believed that foreigners wouldn’t be able to
understand Japanese film, which in turns lead Kurosawa to speak up and
critique the industry for being afraid of supporting Japanese film.

Today, a good fifty years later, “Rashomon” stands one of cinema’s greatest
masterpieces and the film by which “we”, the west, discovered Kurosawa by,
who in turns made “Ikiru” and “Shichinin no Samurai”. It is a strange film,
but nonetheless fascinating and hypnotic, and for those who just don’t get
it, it will still be around in fifty years. That is the great comfort about
art, it never ages, it never goes away, it always invites us back.

Blu-ray (October 2012):
After the 3 DVDs were created Rashomon was restored in 2008 by
The Academy Archive, The National Film Center of the National Museum of
Modern Art, Tokyo and Kadokawa Pictures Inc. The Criterion Blu-ray
uses that restored print and it is a significant improvement over the SD
releases often showing much more information on the frame edges. It
still has a tendency to look frail but the restoration work has smoothed
out some of the inconsistencies. Light damage marks and scratches are
less prevalent and the contrast layering is well rendered in 1080P.
Frankly, although remaining imperfect, it is quite a step beyond the
previous digital presentations thanks to both the higher resolution
(dual-layered high bitrate) and the restoration. This double-punch gives
confidence that it is the best we are likely to see the film in the
comfort of our home theaters.

The audio is offered in a linear PCM mono track at 1152 kbps in the
original Japanese and still has some rough patches but is generally
acceptable with the constant rain showcasing some depth. The lossless
track has no strong dynamic elements but services the film adequately.
Criterion also include a Dolby Digital English DUB - which, in my
limited testing, seemed absurd. Criterion include optional English
subtitles.

Criterion included the audio commentary by Japanese-film historian
Donald Richie from 2002 plus the 12-minute excerpts from The World of
Kazuo Miyagawa, a documentary on Rashomon’s cinematographer
and the short interview with director Robert Altman about Rashomon.
We also get A Testimony as an Image, a sixty-eight-minute
documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew as well as a
16-minute archival audio interview with actor Takashi Shimura. There is
also a theatrical trailer and the package contains a liner notes booklet
featuring an essay by film historian Stephen Prince; an excerpt from
director Akira Kurosawa’s Something Like an Autobiography; and
reprints of Rashomon’s two source stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa,
“Rashomon” and “In a Grove".

Rashomon is an incredibly perfect film and owning it in the very
best edition would seem mandatory. Personally, I am always so impressed
with this film from a technical standpoint - more than any of Kurosawa's
other works. In re-visitation it is magnificent and we give this
Blu-ray disc our
highest recommendation!

***

ON THE DVD:

The Oasis (Korean) production company
may have purchased the Criterion extras (or just the Richie commentary)
and the Criterion menus or they may have been stolen. I don't know. The
Korean disc has possibly, the worst subtitle font and color I can remember
seeing. Talk about distracting Kurosawa's framing from your vision. This
is the sign of a company that has no artistic integrity and is simply
after quick cash. It is also less sharp than the Criterion.

Quite a bit cropped off the left edge
of the much clearer Criterion. I still have never been able to understand
why this manipulation occurs. Regardless, the Criterion is sharper, solid
contrast, removable subtitles and a host of extras that beat out the BFI.
The BFI also shows quite a bit of damage in spots. In a perfect world the
image would not be reduced and it would be as clear as the Criterion. We
are recommending the Criterion.

-Gary
W. Tooze

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